The German patent DE-952 879, published in 1956, describes a freewheel device clutch for a self-winding watch. This device comprises two input wheels driven by a winding wheel. Each of these input wheels is coupled to a pinion, around which a satellite pinion, forming a pawl carried by a lower wheel, can move. The two lower wheels mesh with one another. One of them is coupled to an output wheel. When the winding wheel turns in a first direction, the driving force is transmitted to the output wheel through a first input wheel, a first pinion, a first satellite and a first lower wheel, which meshes with a second lower wheel coupled to the output wheel. When the winding wheel turns in a second direction, opposite the first direction, the driving force is transmitted to the output wheel through a second input wheel, a second pinion and a second satellite which the second lower wheel, coupled to the output wheel, carries.
The French patent FR-1 079 576, published in 1954, proposes a self-winding device for a clockwork mechanism. In this device, a winding wheel carries a first satellite pinion forming a pawl. This winding wheel meshes with a wheel which carries a second satellite pinion forming a pawl. The movement of the winding wheel can have two directions. Depending upon its direction, it is transmitted in a first way or in a second way to an output wheel. More precisely, when the winding wheel turns in a first direction, the first satellite pinion drives a first output pinion. When the winding wheel turns in a second direction, opposite the first direction, the second satellite pinion drives a second output pinion. A same output wheel receives the driving force from the first output pinion or the driving force from the second output pinion.
The devices of the aforementioned documents DE-952 879 and FR-1 079 576 have notably the drawback of taking up a lot of space, and it seems that despite the almost 60 years which have passed since their publication, no one has managed to this day to resolve this problem of bulkiness in a satisfactory way.